Of doctored looks and dyeing for attention

Anyone who says they are completely happy with the way they look are probably not being truthful. Some people hate their noses, others their thin lips or ears that they think stick out too much. Some people don’t like their height, mostly because they’d like to be taller. Most don’t like their weight and others still hate their vital stats.

Unfortunately, most of their dislikes cannot be fixed so easily but that’s not a bad thing. After all, you should accept yourself the way you are because that’s the way God made you. Sadly a lot of people can’t think of it like that because of what they see posted on social media by their favourite celebrities. Perfect makeup, perfect hair, perfect measurements, flawless skin and pretty much a perfect life.

Life isn’t like that and I assume neither is theirs. Remember, no celebrity looks the way they do on their Instagram posts when they wake up first thing in the morning. The probability is that they spend at least two to three hours with a hair and makeup stylist before shooting their photo or even before leaving their homes. But it does not end there. Before posting a photo of themselves celebrities will dramatically tweak it using Photoshop or some editing software on their phones.

Ankles or knees are slim, the nose is straight and narrow, their hair is sleek and shiny and the complexion is clear. Or is it? We all know that is not the reality and so too do some members of the UK government. A British MP has introduced a Bill that would ban celebrities from posting photos of themselves that look like they have been doctored to make them look better than they are in reality. Why would he introduce such a Bill? Because such photos warp the minds of impressionable young people by reinforcing poor body image.

This is the topmost reason young girls suffer from anorexia and bulimia. The mere sight of food sends the wrong signals to their brains telling them that it will make them fat. These girls then begin counting calories in the case of anorexia or binge eating and then secretly throwing up, in the case of bulimia. These individuals are weight driven where low is never low enough. Who do they emulate? Painfully thin models. This is why some countries have banned models on the runway from being painfully thin.

Not all girls end up having an eating disorder though. Some become obsessed with finding ways to change their facial structures. A nose job or liposuction for a sagging chin or jawline, or filler and botox for their lips. But in many instances, it doesn’t stop at a single procedure. Never being completely satisfied with their looks, their attention turns from their face to the rest of their body, from liposuction to augmentation or reduction of various body parts.

In fact, many draw attention to themselves in the medical community when they seek multiple elective procedures. Doctors begin to ask them probing questions in an effort to get to the bottom of their dissatisfaction; they begin to be concerned with their state of mind and what’s driving them to constantly want to go under the knife. Why are they seeking the procedure? How would they feel and what would they do if they did not get the procedure? What or who is motivating them to put themselves under so much physical stress? Is someone or something pressuring them to look a certain way? If no further enhancements are possible, and they still don’t think they look right, most end up with depression or start to hurt themselves.

A few years ago a friend of mine, who once lived in the UAE, kept getting her hair bleached. I never once saw her natural hair colour which was apparently black. The incessant bleaching had taken a major toll on her hair. It had been damaged to such an extent that it was coarse enough to scour a burnt pan with it.

One day she called me in extreme pain saying that she’d just got back from a salon where the hairdresser had burnt her scalp. She was in agonising pain. I told her not to keep having her hair bleached. I told her that her hair needed a respite from all the harsh chemicals used in the bleaching process because they were damaging her hair and scalp. The response I received was astounding. She said she did it to please her husband who didn’t like black hair! The only thing I heard in that entire conversation was that, were it not for her husband’s unreasonable desires, she would not have been suffering at that moment and we’d be having a different conversation.